Side effects and changes to skin and breasts after radiation?

shny

Hi everyone, I am new here. I just got diagnosed with DCIS and I am trying to learn as much as I can about the treatment. I met with the radiation oncologist who explained about the side effects and she mentioned skin and breast changes like hyperpigmentation, fibrosis etc. Was wondering if anyone here had long lasting changes after completion of radiation, and if so what were they? I would also like to hear from others who had no or minimal side effects. Thanks in advance!

Ker1hay

Hi shny, I had radiation on my right side 7 years ago. After the first 3 weeks I had to go without a bra for awhile due to irritation of the skin. I remember some skin redness and darkening early on for a few years. Now that is all pretty much gone and coloring is back to normal. There is a little lumpiness feeling from the biopsies and surgery. Also slight numbness that I don’t really notice much. Now I have DCIS on the left side and had partial mastectomy ( lumpectomy) and will start radiation in about a week. It will be the shorter hypofractionated one for 3 weeks. So all in all, I had pretty minimal side effects, and hoping for the same this time around. Hope you do well with this

shny

Thank you for sharing your experience Ker1hay. Wishing you all the best for your upcoming radiation treatment.

Moderators

Welcome again Shny!

So glad Ker1hay could provide some insight for you. We're hoping others will be by soon to share their experiences as well!

--The Mods